Teacher Perspectives of Student Academic Decision-Making in Montessori Elementary Classes. Moore, M. Ph.D. Thesis, Pacific Oaks College Northwest, Pasedena, CA, 2000.
abstract   bibtex   
The "central problem of education" for Maria Montessori (1971) was "how to give the child freedom”. Montessori wrote more about freedom and liberty than any other topic (Ethel Wheeler in Feltin 1987, 90). Modern theorists such as Paula Polk Lillard (1996) and David Kahn (1997) also give great importance to children's freedom in Montessori classrooms. Freedom is necessary for the development of autonomy (Feltin 1987), which is one of the aims of Montessori education (Montessori 1964, Barron 1992, American Montessori Society website, Kendall 1993). Many Montessori organizations (West Seattle Montessori, American Montessori Society) include some version of the phrase "freedom with limits" in their literature or refer to the child's independence as a goal. However, many programs limit children's responsibility for their learning at the elementary level to choosing which assigned work to do first. Children are not given the opportunity to choose what they will learn and how they will show what they learned. Orcillia Oppenheimer (1999) considered the lack of "real free choice" to be one of the "two fundamentals which are missing from most Montessori programs" (65-67, emphasis in original).
@phdthesis{moore_teacher_2000,
	address = {Pasedena, CA},
	title = {Teacher {Perspectives} of {Student} {Academic} {Decision}-{Making} in {Montessori} {Elementary} {Classes}},
	abstract = {The "central problem of education" for Maria Montessori (1971) was "how
to give the child freedom”. Montessori wrote more about freedom and liberty
than any other topic (Ethel Wheeler in Feltin 1987, 90). Modern theorists such as
Paula Polk Lillard (1996) and David Kahn (1997) also give great importance to
children's freedom in Montessori classrooms. Freedom is necessary for the
development of autonomy (Feltin 1987), which is one of the aims of Montessori
education (Montessori 1964, Barron 1992, American Montessori Society website,
Kendall 1993). Many Montessori organizations (West Seattle Montessori,
American Montessori Society) include some version of the phrase "freedom with
limits" in their literature or refer to the child's independence as a goal. However,
many programs limit children's responsibility for their learning at the elementary
level to choosing which assigned work to do first. Children are not given the
opportunity to choose what they will learn and how they will show what they
learned. Orcillia Oppenheimer (1999) considered the lack of "real free choice" to
be one of the "two fundamentals which are missing from most Montessori
programs" (65-67, emphasis in original).},
	school = {Pacific Oaks College Northwest},
	author = {Moore, Mary},
	year = {2000}
}

Downloads: 0